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People already get the names wrong, so the USB group has doubled down on bad naming.
USB 3.0 was straightforward enough. A USB 3.0 connection ran at 5Gb/s, and slower connections were USB 2 or even USB 1.1. The new 5Gb/s data rate was branded "SuperSpeed USB," following USB 2's 480Mb/s "High Speed" and USB 1.1's 12Mb/s "Full Speed."
But then USB 3.1 came along and muddied the waters. Its big new feature was doubling the data rate to 10Gb/s. The logical thing would have been to identify existing 5Gb/s devices as "USB 3.0" and new 10Gb/s devices as "USB 3.1." But that's not what the USB-IF did. For reasons that remain hard to understand, the decision was made to retroactively rebrand USB 3.0: 5Gb/s 3.0 connections became "USB 3.1 Gen 1," with the 10Gb/s connections being "USB 3.1 Gen 2." The consumer branding is "SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps."
What this branding meant is that many manufacturers say that a device supports "USB 3.1" even if it's only a "USB 3.1 Gen 1" device running at 5Gb/s. Meanwhile, other manufacturers do the sensible thing: they use "USB 3.0" to denote 5Gb/s devices and reserve "USB 3.1" for 10Gb/s parts.
USB 3.2 doubles down on this confusion. 5Gb/s devices are now "USB 3.2 Gen 1." 10Gb/s devices become "USB 3.2 Gen 2." And 20Gb/s devices will be... "USB 3.2 Gen 2×2." Because they work by running two 10Gb/s connections along different pairs of wires simultaneously, and it's just obvious from arithmetic that you'd number the generations "1, 2, 2×2." Perhaps they're named for powers of two, starting with zero? The consumer branding is a more reasonable "SuperSpeed USB 20Gbps."
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 2) by Absolutely.Geek on Wednesday February 27 2019, @11:30PM (1 child)
I hear you are having issues with brand confusion; I think that we can generally agree that you have no idea how to name things.
How about we make a small change and simplify things. I propose we change the naming to something we can all agree on; it is the speed that matters.
USB 3.0 / USB 3.1 Gen 1 / USB 3.2 Gen 1 Should now be referred to as USB 3 - 5
USB 3.1 / USB 3.1 Gen 2 / USB 3.2 Gen 2 Should now be referred to as USB 3 - 10
USB 3.2 2x2 Should now be referred to as USB 3 - 20
USB 3 - 5 supported plug types A / C
USB 3 - 10 supported plug types A / C
USB 3 - 20 supported plug types C
Simple elegant and full of useful information.
Note further developments are easily managed e.g.
USB 3 - 40 supported plug types C / D
USB 4 - 100 supported plug types D
Don't trust the police or the government - Shihad: My mind's sedate.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday February 28 2019, @03:20PM
Maybe the group (ir)resonsible for USB should create a laminated cheat sheet and distribute it with every USB device, cable and accessory.
This can't possibly be a failure of marketing and branding.
(idea: put all marketing people into space craft and fire it into the sun. does not require a high quality durable life support system. Maybe also include PHBs if there is room left over)
The anti vax hysteria didn't stop, it just died down.